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Monday, 4 August 2014

Victim (1961)

Controversial
when released and still absorbing viewing today, Victim was made at a time when homosexuality was still illegal, and
reminds us that this country has made great strides in gay rights in the last
50 years. It also helped Dirk Bogarde make the transition from matinee idol to
art house darling.

When
a young gay man commits suicide in his police cell, it sets off a chain of
events that sees high flying (and closeted) London barrister Melville Farr
(Dirk Bogarde) become a victim of a pair of blackmailers. Wracked with own
guilt at the death, Farr risks his career and marriage to try to bring them to
justice.

Rather
than resort to tired old clichés of presenting gay men as deviants or
limp-wristed comic relief, screenwriters Janet Green and John McCormick, along
with director Basil Dearden take time to build compassion and sympathy for the
characters, dispelling any accusations of exploitation and avoiding heavy
handed moralising. Cleverly, placing this in the familiar context of a standard
crime film plot may have helped them introduce the themes to the mainstream
audience of the time.

The
complex character of Farr, and the dignity that Bogarde gives him, helps make
this more than worthy but dull soap opera. He is driven by a sense of justice
and a wish to make amends for his part in the suicide and so does not undertake
his sacrifice lightly, nor does he expect a very happy conclusion to the tale.
Nevertheless, there is a noticeable ambiguity in his feelings towards his wife
Laura, (played by Sylvia Sims) that implies he may genuinely love her, but he
could also have married her for the sake of appearances.

Laura
is, unexpectedly, just as fascinating a character. Rather than just being the
archetypal 60s middle class stay at home housewife, she is independent enough
to get a day job working with troubled schoolchildren. She is also not naive
about her husband, knowing full well that he had been in relationships with men
before they had got together, something that does not change her love for him,
and gives the script an emotional maturity that acknowledges that real feelings
are not turned on and off like a light switch.

Some
aspects of how sexuality is presented feel a little dated or patronising
nowadays. This question of where Farr's attraction lies is presented as an
either/or choice and, nowhere is it considered that he could be bisexual. Meanwhile,
the other gay characters are depicted as helpless and passive victims of the
law and the blackmailers, victims unable or unwilling to help themselves and victims
who need to rescued, by Farr and the police.

The
anti-gay characters, whether blackmailers or police, are one-dimensional and
never really given much screen time or depth, beyond a few brief "it's not
natural" style speeches. Fascinatingly, when unmasked, the blackmailers
turnout to be a puritanical bigot, and a man who, with his leather jacket and
slightly camp manner seems to be, the film is suggesting without ever
confirming, gay

Not
surprisingly, getting Victim made was
not an easy process given the subject matter, which, regardless of how
acceptable it may or may not have been in the eyes of society, was still
illegal in the eyes of the law. The common practise at the time was for
producers to submit scripts to the BBFC in order to tackle problem areas before
they made it to the camera. In his book "Censored - The Story of Film
Censorship in Britain", Tom Dewe Matthews tells of BBFC memos stating
"the acceptance of homosexuality is too ready in this script" and
after filming the censors still demanded the removal of key scenes that
challenged stereotypes of gay men as upper class fops who are helpless slaves
to their sexual urges. Nevertheless, Dearden managed to keep one key scene
intact, where Farr admits to his wife that he got involved with the man who
committed suicide because he was attracted to him. However innocuous this may
seem nowadays, it was, according to Matthews, the first time that a gay man had
come out in a British film.

The
film would also prove to be a defining moment for its Dirk Bogarde, and
although it would not completely lead to the end of lighthearted fare such as
the “Doctor in...” series of films that he had become associated with, it
certainly would lay the groundwork for the next phase of his career. His
commitment to starring in films with controversial subject matter would see him
in projects ranging from the creepy mind games of The Servant to the Nazi S&M themed The Night Porter.

It
is impossible to quantify the extent to which Victim contributed to the eventual passing of the 1967 Sexual
Offences Act, which decriminalised homosexuality. Despite being the X
certificate, it was reportedly a success at the UK box office, buoyed by
publicity from the ensuing media coverage, and may have acted, like Farr, as a
catalyst for change. However, with the liberal or at least laissez-faire,
attitudes of the police depicted in the film, it may have just been reflecting
the increasing acceptance and desire for change in the wider public. Either
way, viewed as a social document or a very English piece of liberal agitprop, it
remains a great thriller and a reminder that the "good old days" were
not always good for everyone.